Chapter Twenty-Two (Including Notice of V-Day Admission)

Upon hearing this, Aunt Xue quickly came out of the kitchen with a spatula in hand: "We haven't eaten yet, it's not too late to go after we eat."

Li Yan looked up at the sky and said, "I'm not eating anymore. I'll eat when I get back."

As autumn arrives, the days grow shorter. When I lived in the countryside, the sun would still be high in the sky at this time, but now the sky has already darkened.

This is the best time to sell hot drinks; later in the day, people will have already gone home, closed their doors, and gone to sleep.

"You've been busy all day and haven't had a proper meal. How can you do that?" Aunt Xue still wanted her to eat something before going.

But Li Yan had her own considerations, so she insisted, "If all goes well, I'll be back soon. Mom, make some steamed eggs with scallions for dinner, I'll eat them when I get back."

Seeing her daughter-in-law's insistence, Aunt Xue said nothing more, only saying, "Then go ahead and I'll steam some eggs for you, two for each of you."

Li Yan was worried that they would wait for her to come back to eat together, so she added, "Xu-ge'er and Yue-jie'er are growing up, they can't go hungry. So eat as soon as the food is ready, don't wait for me."

She's always busy, spinning like a top, and although it's incredibly hard work, I've never seen her complain once. The fact that they, her family and her grandson, are living like this right now is entirely due to her efforts.

Even so, she didn't put on airs and was still worried about Xu Ge'er and Yue Jie'er, fearing that they wouldn't have enough to eat and would go hungry.

Aunt Xue felt a pang of sadness in her heart, and her eyes welled up with tears.

Fortunately, it had gotten dark by then, so even if someone stood right in front of her, she couldn't see it.

Aunt Xue quickly composed herself and immediately replied, "Okay, Mother understands."

Just as Li Yan was about to leave with her cart, she heard a "ding" sound, and that familiar mechanical voice rang out again.

[Congratulations, host! Your target's favorability has increased by 10. You're almost there to complete the beginner's quest. Victory is just around the corner, keep going!]

Li Yan stared at the blurred screen in front of her, which displayed two tasks currently in progress. Aunt Xue's favorability towards her had reached 70; another +30 would complete the task.

Thinking about the big gift pack she would receive after completing the beginner tasks, Li Yan felt a surge of anticipation and excitement.

.

Tongye Street is a relatively bustling street in Huating County, located right behind Tongye Hutong. Following the principle of proximity, Li Yan naturally chose to set up her stall in front of her house for the first time.

There were also stalls selling other food along the roadside, and this was the busiest time of day. The people coming and going were all ordinary folks heading home.

Li Yan calculated the cost. The milk alone cost thirty-eight coins for these two cans of milk tea today, plus the tea leaves and rock sugar... The total cost was approximately seventy coins.

If she can sell it for 100 coins, then all her hard work today will be worthwhile.

Based on her previous experience selling mulberry drinks, Li Yan estimated that these two cans of milk tea could sell about twenty-eight bowls.

If a bowl is priced at four coins, then if all twenty-eight bowls are sold, it will cost one hundred and twelve coins.

If a bowl is priced at five coins, then selling twenty-eight bowls would cost one hundred and forty coins.

Li Yan actually wanted to sell it for five coins a bowl, but ultimately decided to lower the price since it was her first time setting up a stall.

"Selling milk tea! Selling milk tea! Hot milk tea, only four coins a bowl!" After deciding on the price in her mind, Li Yan started calling out.

Passersby cast strange glances at her, but none of them actually came to buy anything, not even stopping to ask her anything.

Li Yan didn't care and continued shouting, "The milk tea is sweet and delicious! Four coins for a big bowl. Don't miss it, come and try it! If you don't like it, you don't have to pay!"

"Milk tea drinks, fragrant and sweet, available in cow's milk and goat's milk, drink whichever you like. The most special drinks, not even sold in high-end restaurants, are made with an exclusive secret recipe and are one of a kind."

After Li Yan shouted like that, someone finally couldn't resist their curiosity and walked over to her stall.

Seeing that there was business, Li Yan immediately called out, "Young master, would you like a bowl to try?" As she spoke, Li Yan lifted the lid of the earthenware pot, and immediately a sweet aroma mixed with the fragrance of milk wafted out.

"Four coins a bowl?" the man asked the price.

Just let the fragrance reach people; after opening the lid for a while, Li Yan immediately put the lid back on.

"Yes, four coins a bowl." Li Yan promoted the drink with great enthusiasm. "My tea has milk in it, real cow's milk and goat's milk, which I bought from farmers around here early in the morning. This bowl of tea with milk is only four coins, very cheap."

The man before me was dressed respectably; though not in fine silks and satins, he was at least wearing a long gown. Compared to those who wore only short, rough clothes, he at least had some status.

Indeed, only those of a certain status would be willing to spend four coins to buy a bowl of drink they've never had before.

"This is the first time I've ever seen milk added to this tea. I'd like a bowl, let me try it."

"Alright, please wait a moment, sir." Seeing that there was business, Li Yan quickly brought over a bowl and asked, "Would you like it made with cow's milk or goat's milk?"

After a moment's thought, the man replied, "I've drunk cow's milk before, but I've never had goat's milk. I'd like a bowl of goat's milk."

"I'll serve it to you right away." Li Yan immediately closed the lid of the earthenware jar.

Li Yan's homemade ceramic ice chest is double-layered. To achieve a continuous heat preservation (or cooling) effect, hot water (or cold water, ice cubes) can be placed in the gap between the two ceramic jars. The ceramic jars themselves have a pretty good heat preservation effect, and with the hot water added to the interlayer, the ice is naturally still warm when it's poured out.

The young man picked up the bowl, first brought it to his nose to smell it, said "It smells so good," and then carefully took a small sip.

After taking a small sip and savoring the taste, he immediately nodded affirmatively, "Delicious!" Then, he continued drinking.

Once one person is willing to try it and gives it a positive review, business will naturally follow.

"Is it really delicious? It smells wonderful. I'll have a bowl to try too."

"Okay, please wait, I'll serve it to you right away."

"I want to try a bowl too."

"Give me a bowl too."

...

For a time, Li Yan was extremely busy, wishing she had four hands.

Just then, Xu Ge'er came looking for them.

"Auntie," Xu Ge'er called out after arriving on the street.

Looking around, Xu Ge'er finally spotted his aunt surrounded by a crowd and quickly pushed his way through.

At this moment, Li Yan was already sweating profusely from her busy work. Seeing Xu Ge'er arrive, she immediately said happily, "Xu Ge'er, you've come at the right time." Then she handed some tasks to Xu Ge'er and asked him to help out.

At the same time, several women who had previously received help from Li Yan also came along.

Upon seeing them, Li Yan gave Xu Ge'er a look that asked what had happened. She hadn't specifically asked them for help, so how did they know?

After understanding his aunt's meaning, Xu Ge'er immediately whispered, "Grandma told them."

Li Yan understood. She guessed that Aunt Xue was worried that since it was her first time setting up a stall here, and she was a newcomer, no one would buy from her, so she asked the neighbors to help.

Li Yan immediately greeted her with a smile and warmly welcomed her.

"Li Niangzi, you've really set up your stall?" It was Aunt Hua who spoke. The Hua family lived right next to the Xue family's courtyard. "Is this a drink you're selling? Great, give me a bowl. I've never had a fragrant drink in my life."

"Okay, Auntie." Li Yan immediately ladled out a bowl and handed it to her.

Li Yan brought only a few bowls, but she didn't let everyone use just one. There was a basin of water next to the cart, and she would wash the used bowls immediately.

When Xu Ge'er arrived, Li Yan handed over the task of washing the dishes to him.

The business was surprisingly good on the first day of the stall. In no time at all, two whole cans of milk tea were sold out.

Others who came running after hearing the commotion wanted a drink, but seeing the empty jars, Li Yan could only apologize and say, "We're sold out for today. If you want a drink, please come back tomorrow. I'll still be here setting up my stall at this hour."

"Okay, I'll come again tomorrow."

After smilingly seeing off the last guest, Li Yan collapsed like a deflated balloon.

Xu Ge felt sorry for his aunt and quietly tidied up the stall himself.

After everything was packed up, Xu Ge'er said, "Auntie, let's go back. Grandma has already prepared the meal."

.

Back home, Li Yan hurriedly ate some food and then rushed to her room to count her coins.

She sold a total of 30 bowls today. Three of them were bought by neighbors who came to support her, and she didn't charge them. So she only collected money for 27 bowls in total.

One bowl costs four coins, so twenty-seven bowls would cost... one hundred and eight coins.

After deducting the cost of seventy coins, the net profit was thirty-eight coins.

Although it wasn't much, Li Yan was still satisfied with the profit she could make at such a young age.

The next day, Li Yan went to the countryside early again to buy milk from that farmer's house.

She didn't dare to buy too much, still only buying two jin (1 kg) – one jin of cow's milk and one jin of goat's milk.

Perhaps because the first day had laid the foundation, or perhaps because some people had come after hearing about it the day before but hadn't been able to get any, business was even better on the second day than on the first. It quickly sold out.

However, Li Yan remained cautious, believing that the good business in the past two days was accidental and that the milk tea drinks would continue to sell so well in the future.

In the following days, she continued to test the waters by consuming one pound each of cow's and sheep's milk.

Sure enough, on the seventh and eighth days, it was noticeable that the milk tea drinks were not selling as well as before.

Although they still sell out every day, the time it takes to sell out has become longer.

Even around the tenth day, the streets were becoming increasingly deserted, and almost every household was closing their doors to rest. Li Yan still had some unsold items left in her jar.

When only a little bit was left, Li Yan decided not to sell it and simply pushed the cart home.

There were about three bowls left, which Li Yan poured out of the earthenware jar and shared among the four family members.

Seeing that she was returning home later and later these past few days, and hadn't even sold out today... Aunt Xue was afraid that her daughter-in-law would feel bad, so she comforted her, saying, "Yan Niang, we are already living a good life. You don't need to work so hard under so much pressure." She quickly added that she could also take on some side jobs to earn money, "Today, your neighbor, Aunt Hua, came over and said that I am good at embroidery and that she could help me find some work."

“I thought that apart from going out to buy meat in the morning, I didn’t have much else to do every day, so it would be good to take on some embroidery work to earn some money.”

Li Yan knew that her mother-in-law was trying to comfort her because she was worried that she would feel bad or stressed.

But Li Yan wasn't that fragile, and all of this was within her expectations.

She smiled and said, "Mother, I'm not upset. Business always has its ups and downs; it can't always be good. If running a business were that easy, everyone in the world would be a millionaire. It's nothing, just a small setback, far beyond my tolerance."

Moreover, Li Yan already had other ways to deal with this.

A note from the author:

----------------------

Another 20 red envelopes will be given away!

The next chapter will be a paid chapter, released at midnight on the 15th (Friday). It'll be a long, substantial chapter!

After becoming a paid subscriber, I'll be updating daily regularly, and there will be more updates, so feel free to jump in!